I have been a open water diver since 1997. I have about 30 dives under my belt. About 5 years ago I had some health issues and a couple bad diving experiances. Ever since then I have not been able to bring myself to dive in anything other than a pool. From what I can tell I am suffering from some form of claustrophobia and its not limited to diving. I have issues with swiming, planes, ect. Anyone have some ideas to get me past this????? I have gotten good at forcing myself threw most of this but water and diving still aluds me.

Honestly, the biggest piece of advice I can offer is perseverence. Keep trying. Push yourself into an environment or situation that pushes the envelope of your comfort. Once you convince yourself you are okay and all's well, and you begin to get comfortable at that point, push yourself further yet again.

Try the pool. Shallow end, deep end. Maybe just snorkling and diving to the bottom and back. Then maybe move on to scuba. Just sitting in the shallows, relaxing and breathing. And so on.